SOAS Research Online

This is the latest version of this item.

Abstract

This chapter examines the 2022 UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP). This arrangement includes an asylum partnership arrangement (APA), allowing the British government to send people to Rwanda who would otherwise claim asylum in the UK. An analysis is provided of how the APA is situated within the concept of Policy Coherence for Development (PCD), which is a central UK government strategy. Findings reveal that the APA lacks policy coherence on the part of the UK government for three central reasons. First, evidence-based research has been produced indicating that elements of the APA contravene the human rights of migrants to the UK. The government has failed to engage transparently and robustly with the evidence produced, contradicting its repeatedly stated position in policy documents that support for human rights is of prime importance. Second, aspects of the APA involve harming the environment, which belies the claim made frequently in the same policy documents that fostering green development is a primary UK government concern. Third, the UK government has not attempted to integrate the APA with existing development programmes in Rwanda. The APA is not, therefore, based on a “whole of government” approach, which is stated as being a core facet of policy-making by the UK administration.